The leaves are dropping, and so — sigh — are the prices. It’s Black Friday, and the savings have, uh—… The values—… Act now, something-something… doorbusters? Nope; I can't do it. Hang on. Let me start over.
Here's the deal: starting today, for the next two weeks you can save £60 (about $80) on any Piccalilli course and you'll get a coupon code that gives you 50% off future course purchases. It’s a good deal, so if you've been waiting to grab a copy of JavaScript for Everyone, now is definitely the time. Put those training budgets to good use and earn the skills that get you paid, yeah?
See? We don't need to bring “Black Friday” into this! We don’t need to put a big corny bow on anything! No door need be busted.
No, I know, I'm being weird about it. Honestly, I’ve got some baggage around this stuff. You remember how I said that I stumbled into making websites (see The JavaScript for Everyone Newsletter #11, true believers)? Well, before that, I worked in retail — for the better part of a decade, as a matter of fact. I've seen Black Friday from the other side of the counter many, many times. I do not care for it.
That isn’t just about hearing Simply Having a Wonderful Christmastime multiple times per day, for several months at a stretch, every single year (it is a factor) — it’s that there was no long-term plan back then. I was just trying to scrape by as best I could, day after day. If it wasn't for luck and an immense degree of societal privilege, well, I don't know where I'd be come Friday. Maybe still standing on the other side of the counter, wearing a primary-color polo shirt and name tag, still getting shouted at about “mail-in rebates,” still Simply Having a Wonderful Christmastime, still just barely getting by. “Black Friday” stuff always reminds me of that, and honestly, it rattles me a little. Like I said: “baggage.”
I’m not there, though. I’m here, with you — and from here, maybe you and I are in a position where we can help a few people out; people in situations like the one I was in for so long, but without all the advantages I had. So, I had an idea:
Instead of a single discount code, I've asked Piccalilli to set me up a Black Friday expensive-er-ing code. If you’re in a position where you’re able to do so, use the code JS4EDONATE at checkout and you'll pay £20 (about $25) more than the Black Friday discount price — still less than the full price, but £20 more than if you hadn’t entered a code at all. You’ll still get that discount code for 50% off future Piccalilli courses, too.
Why, you ask? Well, we’re going to donate the difference in price to Resilient Coders, a completely tuition-free coding bootcamp that teaches web development to people of color here in my home city of Boston — they even provide students with a stipend to help pay the bills while they're learning. I’m going to match whatever this code ends up making in total donations, as are Piccalilli, so your donation counts for triple. Use this link and that code will be pre-loaded for you and ready to go.
You still get JavaScript for Everyone for way less than full price, and half off future Piccalilli courses, and you can help someone get their start on the web, and — in an ideal world — help them to never hear that godawful song ever again.